Finding himself stuck in an artistic rut, Ratatouille, WALL*E, and Up animator Everett Downing made a resolution: to draw one superhero for every day of the year. It didn't quite work out. Still, three years after making that resolution, Downing presses on, working to complete his 365 Supers project armed, with his imagination, brushes, and a list of terrible, terrible puns.

Wired has more details on the history behind Downing's project and his rules for coming up with these designs, but the images on his blog tell an interesting visual story of and artist working through his block. Downing has a list of super-names that he and his friends came up with, and he tries to sit down for an hour at a time to come up with a design to fit that name. Sometimes the results are simple and conventional, wearing their inspirations on their spandex sleeves. In other instances, you can see the gears turning on the page as Downing works through various visual conventions of good guys and bad. And sometimes, the pairing of a name with the perfect image (the horse-headed "Neigh-sayer" or "Whipper" and his lobster-suited partner "Snapper") is incredibly satisfying.

So far, Downing has 289 costumed creations (including a few supplied by guest artists), and he swears that this is the year he hits 365.

289: Kid Questor - Armed with a mystical sword that protects its wearer, this youth must protect our world from mythic creatures from another realm!
192: Bloozar (Reminds me a bit of Sirron Norris
' bears)
169: Bouncing Betty - Covered in a protective layer of force, the Bodacious Bouncing Betty patrols the city streets.
266: The Caped Cadaver
189: Stone - When she asked for enternal youth she was transformed into living stone.
134: The Cynic
149: The Mountie! - Canada's Finest
127: Dr. Acula (Perhaps the name was inspired by Scrubs
?)
128: Neigh-sayer